Sne Masuku

Sne Masuku

More than 200 department of education employees, who were fired earlier this month, are back at work.

South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) spokesperson Chris Ndlela yesterday said a total of 206 workers had been reinstated.

Ndlela said 24 workers were still awaiting their fate. The department should conclude processing their applications this week.

"The outstanding cases have been referred for further investigations," Ndlela said.

He said they were glad most of the workers had been reinstated.

But they will monitor the process very closely to make sure all their members get their jobs back.

The workers were fired after embarking on a two-week strike over alleged nepotism and corruption in the department and performance bonuses.

The strike ended last week when the union and the department agreed that the workers reapply for their jobs.

The department also promised to look at their grievances.

Education department spokesperson Mbali Thusi confirmed the reinstatements.